Common YouTube Analytics questions

When you diagnose issues on your channel, look for patterns and keep in mind that there might be several reasons why something happened. It’ll be important to know which reports have the info you're looking for and how you can use data to understand what's happening. Let's take a look at some common scenarios so you know how to analyze and interpret them.

My watch time and views dropped

You’ve seen a drop in watch time and views. You can ask yourself the following questions to try to diagnose the issue.

Question 1: Have I changed the types of videos I am uploading?

Altering your content strategy could be one reason for the drop in viewership. While Analytics can be helpful in determining if this is a cause, think back about the types of videos you’ve been producing and if you’ve made any changes. Check out the comments too! Often viewers will also have an opinion and candidly let you know what they think about a change in content type.

Question 2: Have I changed my upload schedule?

Reference the viewership report and click “compare metric” and then “videos published” to see how frequently you’ve been uploading. A reduction in the frequency of uploads could be the reason your viewership has declined.

Question 3: Is a single video responsible for the drop?

Choose the multi-line view in the Watch Time report to see if you may be losing watch time due to one particular video. You may see a graph like this below where a single video with strong watch time or viewership (green line) suddenly dropped on a certain date.

Next, take a look at the specific video and see what happened on the date the views or watch time dropped.

If the video is no longer available, make sure it’s public and viewable. If there is a claim against the video that makes it no longer available, consider investigating or disputing, if appropriate.

Take a look at the video’s traffic sources; maybe fewer people are finding it through a specific website.

Other questions to ask. These may not be specifically responsible for the drop, but could offer some clues:

Did the drop occur in one specific country?

If so, can you use subtitles to make the content more accessible?

Did someone block your content in one country? If you have the rights, then try to contact the other party to solve the issue.

Has your audience demographic changed in any way?

Did you change your content? It might be worth analyzing what content works best for your target demographic, and produce more of it.

Was the content that was responsible for the drop seasonal or topical to what was happening in the world?

Did you use paid promotion to boost the video’s exposure? Did you stop?

My earnings dropped

You check out the Revenue Report in YouTube Analytics and notice that your Estimated Partner Revenue has gone down over time. You can ask yourself the following questions to try to diagnose why your channel is making less money.

Question 1: Did your watch time or viewership drop?

How can I tell?

In the Revenue Report, click the “compare metric” feature to show both total estimated earnings and views over the time period you’re looking into.

What might have caused this?

Use the section above to diagnose the issue.

What can I do?

Audience development is a key component to making money on YouTube. We have lots of resources available on the Creator Academy to help you think about growing your fanbase, viewership, and watch time.

Question 2: Have you changed what ads are enabled on your videos?

How can I tell?

While in Creator Studio, click to the video manager. From there, you can see if your videos have monetization enabled.

You should also see if you have any copyright claims against your videos. Click the Copyright Notices tab under Video Manager to see if that is the case.

What might have caused this?

Did you change your monetization policies or ad formats on this video? It’s also possible that there is a claim against one of your videos that could be affecting monetization.

What can I do?

First and foremost, ensure that monetization is enabled on all of your videos. Next, if you feel a there was a claim made against one of your videos in error, you have the option of filing a dispute. Click here for more information on that process.

Question 3: Is the drop due to seasonal changes?

How can I tell?

Start by looking at the Revenue report. If the drop in earnings coincides with a change in financial quarter (January, April, July, October), it’s likely due to seasonal fluctuations in the money brands spend on YouTube advertising. You can expand the timeline to see if similar changes happened to your earnings the previous year as well.

What might have caused this?

Remember, that YouTube ad revenue comes from brands spending money on those ads. Companies typically spend more at the end of the quarter, especially around the holiday season in December. Declining CPMs at the start of a quarter may not be a sign of your viewership or engagement changing, but could instead be due to larger market forces at work.

What can I do?

While you can’t directly control the revenue per impression on your channel, you can continue to work on growing your audience. Check out our other Creator Academy resources for more tips.

Question 4: Is the drop due to changes in viewer demographics?

How can I tell?

Start by looking at where your viewers are coming from using the Demographics report. Check out where your videos are most popular today, then change the time frame to see if this is the same as it was in the past.

You can also see if your earnings have shifted geographically. To find out, go to the Revenue report, display the geographies tab and select multi-line view to compare your revenue by country at a glance. In the example below, you can see the earnings in one country (violet line) sharply declining from 2000 USD to 800 USD.

What might have caused this?

The world is a diverse place and viewers in different countries like different kinds of videos. And not all countries have the same ad rates. If you’re suddenly more popular in a country with generally lower ad rates (at the expense of views in a country with higher ad rates), you may see a decline in your revenue overall.

What can I do?

If you notice high viewership rates in markets with generally lower monetization rates, you can work on expanding your geographic reach using translation tools, such as captions or localized metadata.

You should also examine the copyright notices section in Creator Studio to see if anyone is claiming revenue in a certain country. If appropriate, you can dispute the claim.

Question 5: Is the drop due to a change in the devices your viewers are using?

How can I tell?

Visit the Device report and look at the distribution of your viewership. Has mobile or tablet viewership increased around the same time as your earnings drop?

What might have caused this?

You may remember from the lesson on ad formats that not all ad formats are available on all devices. As a result, your earnings per view may be lower from mobile phones and tablets than from computers.

What can I do?

First, you can make sure that you have enabled all ad formats, especially skippable video ads (TrueView) and sponsored cards. Those ad formats are available on mobile devices, as well as on computers. You should also continue to focus on audience development to keep growing your fan base.

Question 6: Are certain ad formats not performing as well for your videos? Has the mix of ad types changed on your channel?

How can I tell?

Check out the Ad Rate report. Click on Ad Type to see how much you are making and how many impressions you are getting from each different ad format.

What might have caused this?

If you see revenue or impressions from one ad format going down, it’s possible an advertiser was running a specific campaign that ended. This is especially likely if you see a decrease in reserve impressions.

What can I do?

If all of your ad types are declining at around the same rate, the overall demand may have slowed down. Is there something happening in the world or local economy that could relate to this decline?

If you see breaks that from time to time and there is almost no advertiser demand, then you might want to review your content. Are you uploading frequently enough? Is the content still popular?

You can also try to diagnose this from YouTube Analytics in the Watch Time report. Compare the metric “Estimated Monetized Playbacks.” Look for videos where views are disproportionately higher than monetized playbacks.

Consider making your videos more appropriate for advertisers. While you have to balance your current audience’s expectations and your revenue potential, for some creators, it may be worthwhile to make content adjustments.

What should you do if none of these scenarios apply to you/haven’t gotten an answer?

First off, don’t give up! Sometimes you’ll need to give your analytics a little extra time to adjust based on changes you’ve made. Try experimenting with new programming strategies and consider how you can foster a dedicated community who loves your stuff. Browse the Creator Academy for more ideas and for additional support, join our community.